Crowds cheer as landmark silos come down Wednesday

A series of loud booms ended all the anticipation Wednesday morning, and 11 seconds later, what once stood 170 feet tall turned into a pile of debris and dust.

Sun Journal Staff

A series of loud booms ended all the anticipation Wednesday morning, and 11 seconds later, what once stood 170 feet tall turned into a pile of debris and dust.Actually, two silos — one the familiar, white 170-foot-tall structure and the other a small, plain gray silo — were brought down in controlled implosions in a matter of moments.

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Cheers followed, as if those gathered on North Craven Street had just seen a Fourth of July fireworks show.The implosion of the two silos, which were part of New Bern’s landscape for decades along the Neuse River, was done to make way for new development.“I’ve heard a lot about it in the last couple of weeks,” said Ed Webber, who came out to watch the silos come down. “I’ve been paying attention. It must have been an amazing town. Still is, I guess. I have never seen anything like this, so I thought I would come by and visit.”Dale Hale, a former volunteer firefighter who lives in New Bern, came for more than just the noise.“I was wondering about the structural collapse and what you could learn from it,” he said. “I was about two blocks away and the actual second explosion shook the older building on the corner. That was kind of cool to see the impact that it did have and how far out it would actually go. It was a lot more powerful than I expected it to be that far away.”The explosions did shatter a couple of windows on North Craven Street, according to reports, but the implosion went as planned, though some of the dust created drifted to as far as Craven Terrace. Some residents reported they could hear the triggering blasts as far away as the Brices Creek area and the Trent Creek/Arcadia Village neighborhoods.Many of the 100 or so people who gathered on North Craven Street covered their ears, anticipating the thunderous explosions. Most all had a camera or cell phone out to capture the moment.One dog on a leash cowered as the first blast brought down the smaller silo, with another blast following a second or two later, bringing down the larger one.The small silo tumbled over quickly, sending a cloud of dust toward the larger one. Moments later, a loud bang rocked the base of the large silo. The structure appeared almost to drop to its metaphorical “knees” before tipping over and collapsing into a pile of debris on the largely vacant riverfront property.Edna Burch, who once lived in a house at the corner of Crescent and Guion streets, stood at the end of a lot behind the Salvation Army on Queen Street, holding a cup of coffee, looking toward the two silos that have been familiar to her since she was a child.“We’ve been seeing this and the cotton gin since I was, I reckon, 10 years old,” she said.But Wednesday she was standing in the cold waiting for the two silos to fall.“It’s just part of history going its way,” she said. “You have to make changes and I think changes are good. It’s just life and life moves on. They’re not being used, so it’s better to go ahead and make something useful out of it.”Perry Murphy, who lives in James City, knew the silos up close when the old mill was still operating.“I used to work there,” he said. “Years and years ago, back in the early ’70s, I helped fill the sacks with feed — load them up on the farmers’ trailers. I hate to see it go. It’s been a landmark for a long time.”Ron Waniewski moved to New Bern from Harlowe in 2007, and the silos became a daily part of his life, living on nearby Avenue D.“It has been what everyone says — a landmark,” he said. “I passed them every day coming home from work at the base and now I work at the airport and I keep passing them. I saw the evolution of the graffiti. It is just something that has been there and I am going to miss them, somewhat. But, it’s progress and I hope they do something very progressive with this property — something that everyone can enjoy. It will be a good thing for New Bern.”Some spectators braved Wednesday’s cold temperatures and took to the Neuse River for a look. Eugene Sumrell, owner of Tidewater Marine, drove his boat over to the area around the silo complex to see history being made.“It was something we won’t see very often,” he said.Also aboard the boat were his son Alex, his buddy Brandon Reavis and Reavis’ 4-year-old son, Max.Sumrell said a fire department boat made sure he and a handful of other boaters and kayakers didn’t get too close to the silos.He said the blasts did not have any effect on the boaters in the river and none of the resulting dust from the silos’ collapse seemed to waft that way.The preschooler aboard his boat was content with some hot chocolate and was not frightened by the noise, Sumrell said, adding that the event was over pretty quickly.“It was a big boom and everything came down,” he said.

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